


Wing Tip

by DaughterTime



Series: The Nightshade Experiment [1]
Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 08:54:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4054066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterTime/pseuds/DaughterTime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wait.<br/>Stop for just a second.<br/>You need to read this. You have to read this.<br/>This is my story, this is when I pick up where Max left off. She left the world a wreck after she failed to save it the way everyone wanted her to.<br/>Now, I have to go in and change everything. This is the story of my Flock, the experiment based off of the failed Maximum Ride Experiment.<br/>If you want to keep scrolling you can.<br/>It's your choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Hey.

My name is Zoe. Zoe Nightshade. It's my name. A name I choice for myself during everything that happened. I chose a name and not just random numbers as a mini rebellion so long ago. The others did to. The others in my little gang of renegades.

There are 7 of us. Just 7 kids on the run with the worst mandate on the planet.

This is the truth. The truth of what happened after the apocalypse. Max failed to save the world the way that everyone wanted her to and the Earth was destroyed. And so I was a member of the assigned clean-up crew. I didn't really apply and sign up for that job so I did everything shy of flip off my boss and ran, bringing my family with me.

This is what really happened after the world ended. You can keep scrolling, or you can go on to the next chapter. But now you know that truth.

And you can do with it whatever you please.


	2. Caged Wings

I was running again. The electrodes hooked up, zapping me every time I stopped. It was the same old maze, same doctors, same everything that I had done a million times before. I reached the end in just under 3 minutes, and that was that. My two hours of freedom were over. I glanced over at Kayla, the 10-year-old who did these exercises with me, and sighed.

We were led back to our 'room'. Actually, more like a prison room, for several freaks. We were ushered into our cages, and I sat back, irritated, and yet comforted by the routine. We were genetic experiments. We were supposed to do what we were told and help these 'scientists' find ways to help humanity. No, not really.

We weren't fed very much. We had to take tests that involved knowledge, endurance, and skill and if we stopped for just a moment, we were shocked or punished in some way. We also had to sleep in dog kennels, and had a daily routine that pretty much sucked the life out of everyone.

And by 'we', I mean the others. All of the other genetic experiments that survived. Some kids weren't so lucky and didn't survived beyond adolescence.

And yes, I said kids, I meant kids.

These 'scientists' have kidnapped little kids and used them, taken kids from orphanages, and some parents were even sick and twisted enough to willingly give up their children. I had been a test tube baby. I knew that much. Well, more like I had a feeling that that was the truth. And I was a genetic hybrid, with 2% avian DNA woven into my genes.

In this room, there were 7 of us, me included. Kayla was one of them. And we survived. But others, weren't so lucky. Some were infused with aquatic life, and died, some were hit with too much genetic material, sometimes too little. In this very room, I could think of maybe 6 kids that had died in the past year. It made me want to puke. But of course, puking would mean losing one of the two meals I am allowed each day, so that wasn't the smartest idea.

I looked across the way at Ritz, and sighed. He was sitting, leaning back against the back of his kennel freakily staring at nothing again. ' _Hey_.' I sent to him. One upside to being a genetic experiment, we had talents that not even the 'scientists' know about. All seven of us birds kids were telepathic in some way.

' _Hey_.' He sent back and looked in the general direction of my cage. _'I assume you heard what Izzy tried to do earlier_.' I groaned outwardly, and said yes. Izzy was another bird kid. Except even though she was only 9, that girl could cause more mischief than a rat infestation. And earlier, she made one of the dumbest moves of her life. We are supposedly beneath the scientists. So we are not to speak to them. We were to be silent. Izzy went and completely insulted the LEAD scientist. To his face, in front of several others. Her punishment: go a few rounds of cat and mouse with high class Erasers.

Erasers are human-lupine hybrids. They're part wolf. They appear normal, but when prevoked, or even not, they can become strong, werewolf like things that can run at high speeds, and stand on two legs. They are, literally, the guard dogs. They were violent and not very gentle. Izzy had to be real quick on her toes if she didn't want to get hurt. Typical Izzy. I smiled and shook my head. Currently, among our little group of human lab rats, only Kayla, Ritz and I were in the room. Hunter was out on one of her rounds, Izzy was being Izzy, D.G was, well I had no idea where D.G. was, and Gage was out being tested.

At that moment, Gage and D.G. walked in. D.G. was holding an alarm clock. He clutched it, sent me a quick smile, and crawled into his cage. Then the Lab Coats, what I called the scientists and genetic experimentalists, left the room and locked the door. Gage was softly smiling, which caused me to turn on them.

"Ok, explain." I said, looking at them.

"They're 'increasing my rights for being good."' He said, in a deep voice, trying to imitate one of the docs. We all cracked a smile.

"You already rewired it didn't you?" Ritz asked. D.G. nodded vigorously.

"Yep!" D.G. was incredibly skilled with electronics. He had rewired more alarm clocks, clocks, cell phones, and watches than I could keep track of. Sometimes, the scientists didn't even know he had messed with them. I tested with him one time when he was around 7 and watched as he pick-pocketed one of the scientists, grabbed the cell phone and reprogrammed it to make animal sounds and put it back in the pocket. All in less than 3 minutes. This ability also meant he knew what to rewire where to create a bomb. The kid was like 8, 9-years-old. He had cute, thick, shaggy blonde hair and green eyes that could either be the most innocent things you had ever seen, or be so full of mischief, you'd think he had been possessed by the devil.

I shook my head and sighed. Then the door opened and Hunter walked in. Hunter was incredibly calm, and had a freaky control over her emotions. She cooperated more than the rest of us, and had exceptional sight. So, she was allowed to patrol the compound for intruders. But she was never armed, and always had an escort. Okay, more like 3 or 4 escorts. Her eyes were golden brown and her hair was rust red, curly and wild, and its length was just below her shoulders when it was down. She was allowed to keep it in a bun though. It was up now, and her face was blank as she was crawled into her dog kennel. She was wearing jeans, and a baggy gray shirt, her normal gear. The Eraser, a freakishly tall and skinny kid with sandy hair, flashed me a devilish grin, before shutting the door behind him.

"So. Anything new?" Gage asked. Hunter sighed.

"Nothing. If we want to get out of here, we have to do it ourselves. There's nothing. The rumors of work being done to expand are false. I saw nothing." Everyone released very degrees of emotions. Frustration, anger, sadness, hatred was popular, and so was disappointment.

"But, guess what I got today." I said, and everyone looked at me. "Something is going to happen. Something big. The docs were super excited, and impatient. They rushed through the tests faster than any other day. Something's happening." I explained. I had the ability to read emotions, from hatred, to a feeling of cockiness. If it was an emotion, I could read it. One more mini upside to being a freak.

"Well, that doesn't tell us what." Gage sighed.

"It's something isn't it?" Ritz countered. Then the door opened, and Izzy walked leisurely inside, while the scientist behind her was scratched up and did not look pleased. She obediently crawled into her cage and I knew instantly that she had done something, from how good she was being, the frustration and want to harm her rolling of the scientist in waves and the pleasure coming off of Izzy. The man slammed the door and we turned on her.

Izzy had brilliant blue eyes, and almost white, platinum hair, wearing a simple white nightgown. "What did you do?" I asked, before everyone else.

"They made me do cat and mouse. So, I ran, the Erasers followed. And when they caught me, I got violent. When I didn't want to be caught, I got creative. One of the Erasers is blind or something. Because I darted in between two 'Coats' and he attacked them." She said with glee.

"You are one demented little girl." Gage said with slight awe in his dark eyes.

"And your point is?" She asked, her blue eyes sparkling. 'Coats' was the name Izzy had for the scientist. We all had one for them, some friendlier than others. The door opened again, and some men walked in with trays. Dinner. Before they set them down, a lady stepped in and looked at us. "Eat up. All of you have a big day tomorrow." She didn't sound enthusiastic. She had dark brown eyes, and dirty blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun. She wore heels, and a long white jacket that was buttoned up. She nodded briskly at me, and left.

Then the trays were set down. It was a feast. I looked at the trays in awe. Chicken sandwich's and fruit, more food than we normally saw in a week. That's when I knew. Tomorrow was the day we would fight the Erasers. Tomorrow, they would chase us around the compound and we had to fight them. Tomorrow was the ultimate time to escape.


	3. Chapter 3

Our cages were hauled onto a large piano dolly and we were pulled outside. Erasers were in their wolf form and they looked riled up and excited. I had already told the others of a plan, and there was plenty of room for improv. D.G. had his bomb hidden somewhere on his person and was going to set it off on the outside of the testing wing, where they experimented and tested us. Kayla, had already confirmed that no one was going to be tested at the time of our 'test'. The dolly rattled, bringing me back to reality.

Gage was below me, Kayla and Izzy were beside me, Hunter was next to Gage, D.G. was above Ritz, all was fine as we were dragged outside. I reached behind me and found Kayla's fingers through the wiring. She squeezed my fingers quickly before releasing them Then they unlocked the cage and we unfolded ourselves and stood before them. The lady who had told us last night that today was gonna be a big day was standing in front of us, looking smug.

"Today is the day when we see how all of you have improved. Some of you have done this before." She looked directly at Gage and I, and then to Hunter and Ritz, and continued speaking. "Today we also test the Erasers. Normally, the Erasers would chase you and catch you. If you are injured, then we tend to those wounds, and the ones who can survive an hour of being chased will go an entire week outside of the cage and with no testing. Today, the stakes are raised. Any one injured will receive very minimal aid. And the winners will have a chance at freedom." I stared at her. Freedom? Freedom from this hell hole? I looked at Gage. We hadn't had freedom from this place in 2 years. We had escaped, and remained free for 2 years, and then they found us. Putting him, me, Hunter and Ritz, back behind bars. Freedom was a word that had become a distant dream. I looked back at her as she let the word hand in the air. I sent to the entire group.

_Guys, she isn't joking. Stick with the plan, try not to get caught. It doesn't matter if we win or lose. We leave today._

I nodded.

"But with raised rewards, you must earn them. The time has been raised to 2 hours. For that time, you are allowed a maximum of half an hour of flight time."

I straightened, and Gage's finger tapped the back of my hand, and I nodded ever so slightly.

"All rules are out the window. You have one minute to scatter. Go." Without hesitation, I ran forward, weaving around the scientists and going as fast as I could within reason. I noted the position of every one else, and was glad to note that no one had taken to the sky yet. I heard a low growl behind me and whirled around to see two tall Erasers glaring me down. I frowned, but didn't really have time to react. They charged me anyway. I went on instinct. A fist flung my way, and I ducked under it, grabbing his arm, and twisting it, throwing him over my shoulder. The other one leaped at me, and I dove forward, rolling into the crouch, before jumping up and charging at the Eraser. He met me blow for blow, before I got lucky. I shoved his arm down, and swung my leg up, my heel catching his chin. Then I spun around and kicked him in the chest. Then I turned and high tailed it. I stopped for a moment before looking around, and saw Izzy having the best time of her life. She's was the fastest out of all of us, and could gather her energy in bursts of speed. She was basically weaving around the Erasers and scientists like a boss, sliding and kicking peoples' feet out from under them, Eraser's and scientists alike. Then she'd make a sharp turn, jumping and shoving herself off of people's chests, stomach, and I watch with great pride, as she jumped in the air, spun, and Eraser got a face full of her bare foot, which sent him toppling into a bunch of observers.

I let loose a cry of joy and I saw her flash me a smile. Then I spun around and shoved my fist into an Eraser's gut. I flipped backwards, then darted sideways, and his claws scrapped my arm. It was worth it though. I grabbed his wrist and swung into him, connecting with the backs of his knees, sending him to the ground with such force, I heard and felt his kneecaps break. I rolled off of him as he howled and knocked him unconscious to put him out of his misery. I turned and there was Gage running towards me. He had about 5 Eraser's on his tail. I recognized one of them. Alexei. He was one of the Eraser's that had found Gage and I and brought us back here. We hadn't known he was an Eraser at the time. And I had led him right to Hunter and Ritz. He had fooled me. And he reminded me of that everyday.

I turned and started running with Gage.

"Remember to save your energy. We still have about an hour and 45 minutes left. I'll take Alexei. Can you take the others?" He nodded at me.

"Good. Wanna do the Switch Flip plan?" It was our favorite. It worked best for two of us, and with mine and Gage's experience and expertise on it, it almost never failed. I nodded to him firmly, and Gage began to slow down, while I sped up. After I put some distance between us, I heard him yell. I skidded to a stop, and turned, stepping about two paces before Gage was on me. In a quick move, I stepped up and he sent me flying over head. I landed feet first, taking two of them in the face, before jumping up again, flipping, and landing painfully on my feet about two feet away from Alexei. He turned and looked at me leisurely. Hungrily. I heard grunts around me, but I blocked them out. Fighting Alexei was one of the few situations where all of my attention had to be on my opponent. I saw the twitch of a muscle, and moved right, running straight into him, which threw us into hand to hand combat. The two of us, one on one, was a dangerous pair. We had almost killed each other before. We had fought several times over the years. Only once had one of our fights had a victor. That was me, and it was all because I got lucky. All of the others ones had ended in a draw. I had to win this one. Freedom depended on it. He blocked, I punched, each of us tried to land a hit on the other, and not getting far. I needed to end this. So, I pulled a rather awkward move. I moved as if to throw a punch, but instead I shifted at the last second, and brought my knee into his side. He lurched sideways, and I slammed my hands around his ears, which made him howl in pain. Then I kicked him at the waist and he fell to the ground. I heard a step behind me and I immediately went on the offense.

"Stand down." Gage smirked. I relaxed, before kicking Alexei in the gut one more time to ensure he would stay down, before turning and looking around. Kayla was running, flapping her wings behind her to give her extra speed and distance between each stride. It didn't count as flying but she needed help. I opened my own wings, before shooting across the ground in a similar fashion, intercepting Kayla and the Eraser's.

"Come on, Kayla! There's only two of them. You can take them, easy!" I teased, yelling after her. She kicked off the ground, and glided in a turn, her feet pushing off the ground, so it still didn't count as flying.

"I was just having a little fun." She defended, before folding her wings in and running straight into them, leaping forward, putting her feet on the shoulder's of one of them, and pushing off to jump straight into the other. The one she pushed off of got sent directly into me and my fists. The other one, Kayla was handling just fine on her own. I jogged away a ways once he was down, towards Gage, who was watching the Eraser's getting ready to run us down.

"How much time do we have?" He asked without looking at me, shifting into a defensive position.

"Still more than an hour. About 75 minutes. We need to find D.G. and Ritz. Izzy's doing fine, and I just helped out Kayla. I think she's going to hop in a tree for a little bit. We also might want to find tabs on Hunter. I'm sure she's fine, but-"

"But she welcomes your concern." I turned and saw Hunter walking towards us. Her hair had come loose and it now hung wild around her shoulders. Her clothes were a little dirty, and her feet were a bit bloody. For some reason, they liked providing us with jeans and T-shirts, but shoes weren't top priority. At this point, our feet were tough, but it still hurt.

"Hey. Glad to see you're doing well." I smiled, before taking a defensive stance as well. About 7 Eraser's were targeting the three of us and closing in. Hunter fell in right beside us and smiled.

"They're so easy. I do rounds with like all of these guys, and watching them tussle is always amusing. Now they just seem weak." She sounded bored. Hunter had become an expert at evaluating how someone fought, memorizing their movements and responses and acting accordingly. So she was normally our ace in the deck when we were ambushed. Right about now, that was what she was. I barely moved an inch.

One thing I did love about Hunter was the fact that with her memorized fighting moves, she was almost always angry. Of course, I was the only person who knew that, since she had told me. She was the only person, besides Gage, whom I actually had to _try_ to read her emotions. But right now, she let them fly. Out of the seven Eraser's, she was able to take on two of them at the same time, while Gage and I each took one, and then ganged up on the other two.

Then they were done, and we had a moment's rest. Well, Hunter and Gage did. I ran off to find Kayla and D.G.. D.G., apparently, had already planted the bomb along the west side of the building. He was currently hidden and hunkered down in a tree. I stood watching for about two minutes, before watching an Eraser run underneath the lowest branches, and watching a pair of feet swing down and catch him in the eyes. Then a large branch came down and started hitting him over and over. I burst out laughing, and D.G.'s head popped out and grinned deviously at me.

"Oh, such a love for violence." I said, and knew that he heard me. He would be fine. I did a 360, scanning the area, then I heard a scream.

Izzy. Without thinking, I ran towards her scream, and I heard laughter. I stopped dead in my tracks when I rounded the corner of the building.


	4. Chapter 4

She was currently pinned by three Erasers, and one of them was laughing, while the other two scratched and held her in place and the one that was laughing began to move his muzzle towards her neck. I was running forward as his teeth scratched the surface. So, I leaped into the air, and the Eraser trying to bite Izzy looked up as I yelled and he got a face full of my kneecap. He howled and fell backwards as I sailed over him. I landed and swung around, taking one of them in the face. I gripped the shoulders of the third one and physical threw him off of Izzy. I only weighed about 100, 115 pounds, and that's being nice. Erasers outweighed me by a good 100, maybe 200 pounds in full morph. Did that mean that me beating three of them was likely? No. Was it going to happen? Yes. Note to all of you lovely readers: never make me angry.

I leaped at the guy I kneed, and punched him a couple times in the neck before I got thrown off. I went flying, but I put my hand out and shoved off the ground, throwing myself into the air. I threw open my wings, buffering myself, before angling myself downward and launching at them. I collided into one of them, and we bowled into the other two, going head over heels in the dirt.

"Izzy! Get out of here!" I screamed, mad that she hadn't taken to the air already. She nodded and took to the sky, darting off to do something. I felt hands on my back, and screamed in pain as talons dung in, at the point where my wings met my back. Then I was thrown into the air. I felt a hand grab my arm, which righted me, and put me on my feet. I looked up as a dark blur shot at the Erasers.

Gage. I ran forward and we began to dance. All five of us. Three Erasers against two bird freaks who were defensive and pissed off.

Now, Gage and I had always had a thing going. The two of us understood each other without any communication, just motions. Whether it was calming the younger kids, and kicking an Erasers butt, we did it together, in perfect harmony. So, that fight didn't last really long. I know when it was done though, that we had broken a couple of their bones and we were scratched up. But we took to the air, looking for Izzy. She was with Ritz, looking shaken, but fighting with him anyway. Pride flared in me, as Ritz spun around and caught an Eraser in the jaw, and giving him a nice roundhouse kick to the chest, as if he really could see. I moved behind Izzy and grabbed an Eraser by the fur-ouch!- and threw him off and away. I landed on top of him and sent him flying to ground.

' _I love you people!_ ' I thought joyfully as we finished off the last one. Kayla straggled towards me, looking tired and scratched up. Her face and arms were bruised and her feet were bleeding.

"How much longer?" she asked, pleading. My mind raced quickly and I looked down at her.

"We still have close to an hour." Her face fell. She was right. The School had plenty of Erasers that they could throw at us. But there were only 7 of us, and over the past 50 minutes, we had been running and fighting. I looked at Gage.

"I know where D.G. is, and he should be fine where he is. I say it's time we went literal." He nodded to me.

"How?" Izzy asked.

"Simple. We are allowed an allotted time of half an hour of 'flight time'. So. Those who need a break can go to the top of the building or the top of a tree and take a break. Izzy, let your feet heal. Give yourself at least 10 minutes." She nodded to me, then took off on her pure white wings.

I turned to Gage. "I'll hunker down for a bit. Stay on the ground, try to avoid as many fights as I can." He nodded to me, and I smiled, which lit up his dark violet eyes and the corner of his mouth quirked up. Then he and I ran our separate ways.

When I said hunker down, I meant it. I climbed a slightly barren tree, and kept kicking and beating any Eraser that tried to get within 5 feet of me. I stayed there for a good 20 minutes, half hour, meaning that we had roughly half an hour left before the test was over. So, I got out of the tree and started running around, making it seem like I was actually trying. I heard wings over head and looked up to see Hunter darting over head, aiming for the other side of the building. I 'felt' D.G. and reached out for him. D.G. could sort of 'feel' people's mind. We discovered this when a white coat had done everything short of torture Izzy in front of him about a year and a half ago. D.G. had driven the man insane because he pretty much attacked him mentally. I could hear his screams all the way across the building. Both of them were everything short of scarred for the next week. After that, D'g practiced reaching out towards us with his mind, carefully, and now his presence was as familiar as Gage's silent one.  
        'Hey.' I sent him.  
         **'Hey. The bomb is ready. Let me know when you want it to go off. And Gage wants to talk to you about get away.'**  
        'K. Have him meet me by the doors.' I felt a mental nod, and began to head towards them. I felt Gage's presence and saw him fighting an Eraser again, being evaluated by a white coat. A second Eraser was licking his chops and began walking towards them, ready to help rip out his throat. I ran forward, tapped his shoulder, and punched him in the muzzle as he spun around. He howled in pain, and I clapped my hands around his ears and he dropped like a stone.  
        'So. I hear you want to talk get away.'  
        'Yep. Just help me take out this guy and then we can talk.' I nodded, and we took out the other guy with ease.  
        'So.'  
        'We wait until the last 5 minutes, and then hover in the air, and land in time for them to talk their ears off. Then, before we get shoved back into a cage, we take off, getting out of here as fast as we can.'   
        'I like that plan. But, how 'bout we just yell at them to screw off from the air and then blast out of here like the mutant freaks we are?' He smirked at me as we panted slightly. 20 minutes. We could make it.  
        The next 15 minutes were spent almost constantly fighting. We panting hard when we reached the five minute mark. I took to the air without hesitation, breathing hard, with a bloody nose, black eye, cuts, and bruises.  
        "Report!" I yelled, as everyone began to take to the air.  
        "Sore." Izzy complained. I winced. Her clothes were torn, and was cut up more than everyone else.  
        "We all know the plan?" I asked as we gathered in the air. Everyone nodded. The scientists called us down and we stood before them. The leader chick glared at us with her arms crossed.  
        "Well. That was definitely worth our losses." Then she held up her hand, and snapped her fingers.  
        "Now!" I yelled without hesitation, and everyone began to take to the air as about 15 Erasers flooded out of the building. As soon as he was in the air, D.G. set the bomb off and it caused everyone to scatter in confusion. I grinned and took to the air last. And that was a mistake. I leaped into the air and got about 10 feet up before an Eraser in full morph jumped up and wrapped his arms around my waist, dragging me downward in seconds.  
        Gage, who was closer to 30 feet, looked down at me, fear showing in his eyes for the first time in a long time.  
        "NO!" I screamed at him. "Get out of here! Get them out of here!" I screamed at him. Pain and betrayal rolled off of him before my wings got bent and shoved in at a weird angle and I got pinned to the ground. And I couldn't decide which hurt worse: The Erasers pinning my wings in and shoving me into the ground, or the sight of my flock flying away without me.


	5. Chapter 5

        The next two weeks were probably the most painful of my entire life. About three other experiments came and went the entire time. Other than that, it was just me alone in my cage, with no one else around me. I was taken out every day for relentless testing but I didn't care. All that was left in me was a dull ache. The flock as gone. I was here. But they were safe. At the very least, D.G. and Kayla and Izzy could taste freedom and Hunter, Gage, and Ritz could experience it again. And, somehow, that helped make it all okay.  
        The white coats were pissed though. And seemed to enjoy taking that anger out on me. I had, apparently, killed or permanently taken out several of their top Erasers. Alexei was even having to cower and lick his wounds, which gave me a little satisfaction. Then, three weeks after our test, a white coat came in to see me. It was the lady who had tested us on the day the other's escaped. Her name was Ann.  
        She knelt down in front of my cage and unlocked it, looking at me.  
        "You've caused quite the trouble. You know that right?" I just looked at her hollow-eyed and grinned with glee. She swung the door farther open and gestured for me to come outside. So I did. I followed her down the hallways until we came to a conference room, where she sat me down.  
        "Do you want something to drink? I can make some hot chocolate." Without my consent, she made some and put it in front of me. For some reason, I leaned forward and wrapped my hands around it, but didn't take a sip. Ann sighed and sat down in front of me.  
        "Look, Zoe? Is that what you're called?" I nodded.  
        "Look Zoe. We have a problem. I need to know where the others are going. We need to find them. All of you need to keep training. You're not ready for the world, and the world isn't ready for you." I looked at her.  
        "Zoe. We need your cooperation in this." Memories filled my head of Ann. She had always been the kindest. She had been the one to teach us how to fly, properly, without being spurred on by fear of being killed. She had helped train us. She hadn't really had time to teach us anything, but she was always giving us a smile when we cooperated, or when we did good on a test. She had, very covertly, taught us secret languages, and had been completely ok with us using her to use our skills. Actually, she didn't really know that we had used her for such purposes, but she had definitely been helpful. When I was 9, right before Gage, Hunter, Ritz and I escaped, she had sat me down in this office, and told me about how great everything would be when we were ready to face the world. Less the a week later was when we escaped. During those two years, we did everything in our power to learn as much as we could. We taught ourselves to speak properly, got a hold of books and taught ourselves how to read, and began to learn how to write. In the two weeks we knew Alexei before he betrayed us, he would teach us and tell us everything he knew from dawn to dusk and late into the night. For two weeks, he taught us even more fighting skills than the ones we had learned from fighting each other. What was funny was I had used those same techniques against him when he betrayed me.  
        "Zoe. Please." Ann pleaded, looking at me with big eyes. Then she saw my face and sighed in defeat.  
        "Fine Zoe. I will answer three questions, in exchange for you answering mine."  
        "Four."  
        "Fine. Four. I'll start with this. You know about the Maximum Ride experiment. Well, the seven of you are similar cases. The Maximum Ride Experiment was a failure, and the seven of you are an attempt to correct the damage that was caused by their mistakes. But you aren't ready. Not yet. You are not ready to face the world, and to fix it. To save it in ways that Max could not. You-"  
        I couldn't help it. I started laughing. I took a swig of the hot cocoa and looked at her.  
        "You can tell me all the information in the world. I can't and I won't answer any question you could possibly have for me. It isn't worth it. But go ahead, Ann. Spill your guts. But all the kind words, everything, the cocoa, and everything else you've done. They mean nothing." I leaned forward across the table and smiled at her. I watched with pleasure as anger and fear flared in her eyes. But more fear than anything.  
        "But you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that the flock and I will always be one step ahead of the game. One step out of reach. And that bullcrap you were about to feed me about me being a descendant of Max Ride? Yeah. I don't care about that either." Then I leaned back in my chair and took another sip of my cocoa.

That night, I reflected on what I said to Ann. I had to say, I was pretty proud of myself. Her face had been priceless, and worth every word. And the look of horror on her face when I said what she had been thinking, that had been priceless too. Maximum Ride. I scoffed softly to myself. Yeah, I could care less at this point. I was still a mutant freak trapped in a cage, in a hell hole, in the middle of Southern Utah. I shook my head softly, before drifting off to sleep. Even if she was right, Maximum Ride couldn't help me now. But I had to admit that one thing still bugged me. A thought that had been drifting at the back of her mind. That I was destined to destroy the world.

I woke up to a surprise the next morning. A tray was shoved in front of me and I was informed by a gravelly voice that I had 7 minutes to eat. So, I ate the meager meal in less than 5. Then, without warning, my cage was heaved onto a huge piano dolly and I was wheeled outside. The sky was brilliant and blue, with clouds scattered all over the place. Around the building was desert that gave way to distant mountains and trees. The site of it made my heart squeeze. I had a feeling that after today, I would never be a part of it again. My cage was opened and rough hands pulled me out. I was surrounded by about 6 Erasers. Three of them immediately took up position around me. Two of them grabbed my arms and the third braced his hand against my shoulder. The rest were fully morphed and a few had guns. Take that back. Most of them had guns.

Ann stood in front of me with a group of about 11, 12 white coats, whose faces looked new and nervous. Ann's face was tight, but emotions still came off her. She was anxious and sad. I couldn't say why. A movement caught my eye and I moved my gaze ever so slightly upward. A lone hawk circled over head. I blinked slowly and looked back at Ann, who had turned away from me.

"Gentleman. My name is Ann Jayson. I'm one of the lead scientists hear at The School, as we like to call ourselves. After all, we are quite dedicated to learning." Some of them smirked and Ann glanced back at me, but if she wanted a reaction to that joke, she was gonna have to wait awhile. She sighed softly and turned back to them. I blocked her out. I really didn't care at this point. By now, the flock should be long gone, The thought almost made me smile. And I did, softly. Then I registered Ann's movements.

"Zoe. If you would please show them what makes you one of our most successful recombinant life-forms." I stared at her, bored, but sighed and shook the arms off of me anyway. I saw several of the Erasers ready their weapons, but they weren't gonna get much a response out of me. I flared open my wings and smirked at the newbies faces. My wings were roughly 14 feet long. I made the valid assumption a long time ago that I most had likely been infused with either barn owl DNA, or a Red Tailed Hawks'. Cause they were way freakin' cool.

The inner layer was a tawny, golden color, turning a deep, gold brown where they joined my back. The smallest, thinnest, middle layer consisted of white feathers that were speckled and striped brown. The final layer was pure white, besides being lightly striped gray, the outer feathers being dipped in brown. That was the inside of my wings. The outside was two colors. The upper layer was the same dark gold brown as where the wings met my back, except just darker. The outer layer was about two or three shades lighter. Still wicked cool. Look it you if you want a visual.

I smirked softly, but my face became neutral pretty quickly. Ann started talking again, but I blocked her out pretty easily again. That was, until she said disobedience.

"We need to remind them who is in charge. That everything is a test. For instance, the physical and mental pain when something is ripped from them right out from underneath them. Zoe, for instance, can fly. But we must remind her who she is. And where she is." I felt the hand on my shoulder, except it wasn't one hand. It was two, one hand on each shoulder, and I felt more of them hover over my wings.

"Let's she how well she ticks, when everything is taken from her." In that millisecond, in that one sentence, I understood what she was going to do. Ann was going to have my wings ripped out.


	6. Chapter 6

Panic rose in me as I realized exactly what was about to happen. Not my wings. Not my wings. I could do a cage, as long as I had that. My wings? The thought almost put me into a panic attack. I couldn't lose them. I refused to lose them. Now, they were definitely gonna have a fight. Put me in a cage? Fine. Separate me from my family? I could live with. Rip away my wings and then shove me into a cage? No way in h-e-double hockey-sticks. Now was fight or flight time.

Well, I'll try. At least I can join the hawk. I thought reassuringly to myself.

"Take careful notes gentleman. We will also be recording this for further experimentation, but personal notes are still a wise addition." She looked at the Erasers around me and nodded.

"Be ready." The hands on my shoulders tightened slightly.

"Yeah. Be ready Ann." I said, just loud enough for her to hear me. Her eyes widened a fraction, but not even a sound left her mouth before I sprung into action.

I swung around, using good and fashioned force to get the hands off of me and I got one of the Erasers right in the muzzle. Point for me! I did a full 360 before, without even blinking, I ran forward and shoved myself off of Ann's chest, sending her to the ground and knocking her breath away with a satisfying whoof! I went flying into the air, hands above me, ready to flare out my wings, when something yanked on my arms, hard, and dragged me up and into the air. We soared into the air, reaching over a hundred feet in seconds and continued to rise. At about a hundred and fifty feet, the hand that held me let me go. Before I could open my wings this time, arms were already around me, holding me in the air. I opened my eyes to see a worn black shirt, pale arms, and dark eyes, covered by dark hair that filled my heart with joy. I clung on to his shirt, burrowing my face into him.

"Thank god." Gage held me tight, before whispering, "We gotta go." I nodded ever so slightly, before I felt his arms loosen and he reluctantly let me go. I dropped about 10 feet before opening my wings wide and feeling the wind catch in them. My heart swelled. I was ok. I was free. My wings were still in one piece. Relief washed over me in waves, and I sighed with joy. I did a 180 and spun around, descending into ear shot of Ann, but above the Erasers, who were struggling with their guns.  
"Take careful notes Ann. This is being recorded, but still." I gave her a mock salute. "See ya later!" I laughed, before swooping around and rising to join Gage in our quick get-away. And I didn't look back.


	7. Chapter 7

Apparently, Gage had taken everyone to a lake about two hours flight time away from The School. They had all gone to the nearby town and somehow gotten their hands on actually clothes and shoes. Hunter was even kind enough to grab some for me. Then Gage had left Hunter and Ritz in charge and he had gone and hunkered down in the woods by The School, waiting for an opportunity to find me and get me out of there.

The entire flight there, Gage made sure to stay right beside me, keeping our wing tips touching with every stroke. He also kept glancing at me, as if making sure that I was still actually there. I know this because I kept glancing at him at the exact same time to ensure that I wasn't hallucinating and that nothing bad was going to happen to us right then and there. Nothing did. We didn't speak the entire flight, but every flock member jumped out to greet us as we approached. We landed and were greeted with many hugs and the occasional tear of joy. We were whole again and I vowed to never tell them of the past three weeks, simply because I wasn't in the mood to rain on their parade, or mine. Nope. It wasn't going to happen. That night, we had a mini celebration. We went into the meager town, I got changed and we snuck into a very small scale performance theater.

That night, when we got out, Gage and I decided that if we ever went to see a play again, we would try and look it up previously. The younger kids had loved it but it was not appropriate. We flew back to the cave and fell asleep, finally free.

We woke up and flew back into town for breakfast. We had no money, but at this point, all of us were ok with dumpster diving. It was better than the crap they fed us at the School. Then, we left. We high-tailed it out of there, flying fast and furious to put as much distance between us and the School as possible. We got about 4 hours of flight time in before we had to stop. But as least it was something. We landed, or partially crashed and hunkered down for a little bit, resting for about 2 hours, before taking off again. The entire time we scanned the landscape below us looking for an abandoned house or cabin. We found one and immediately took refuge in it. The house was located on a desolate mountain side. The trees that surrounded the cabin were small and spindly. The whole time we had flown around, the world looked strange. Even if I had seen it before. The land was barren. The town looked like it was being held together by the strings, with small farms on the outside of it. The whole area looked like it had survived an apocalypse. We ate what small food was in the cabin and hunkered down for the night. At least the other's did. I couldn't sleep. So, I picked my way around them and went outside. I jumped onto the roof and sat, staring at the stars. First things first that we needed to do. We needed to find a town and stop by, and figure some stuff out. Do some research on our new surroundings. Then I heard a crack and jacked to my feet. Gage held up his hands defensively.

"Whatcha doin'?" He asked, walking down the roof towards me.

"Thinking. We need to find a town, get some grub and research. Something feels off. It looks like people are hanging on after surviving the apocalypse. Besides, the air is strange, there's craters all over the place and I know I am not the only who saw that city a few miles back." I said, looking at him.

"Well aren't we taking the leadership position?" He laughed softly.

"Well, unless you want it. No way I'm lettin' Ritz take it. And Hunter's too young." I said, slightly defensive. He shook his slightly and smirked.

"Sounds like a plan." Then he walked to the end of the roof and shook out his wings. "Fly with me?" I grinned and sighed.  
"I thought you'd never ask.''


	8. Chapter 8

''All right guys. Up and at 'em." I said, nudging them awake. We all woke up pretty quick. If we didn't back at the School, we were punished. So they were up pretty quick. We flew into the nearest town, which was 45 minutes away in flight time and went Dumpster diving again. Then we wandered town, keeping our wings tucked in tight, and found a small library. Gage, Hunter, and I each spread out, taking at least one other flock member with us. Only the three of us knew how to read. And today, we would start teaching the others. I had Izzy with me. I showed her the books, all the letters, and she caught up impressively fast. Then I found the history section. I projected my thoughts to Gage and Hunter, informing them that I had found the jackpot. Then we dove in head first.  
So, apparently, years and years ago, scientists had been secretly experimenting on human eggs and embryos and children, trying to combine their DNA with that of a different species in an attempt to make them perfect for survival. Only two recombinants survived past infancy: the human-lupine hybrid, Erasers, and an avian-human mix. Gage and I without a word found the books on that particular group. Apparently, a School in California had created a group of 6 children, Angel, the youngest at age 6, the Gasman, who was 8 and Angel's older brother, Nudge, who was 11, Iggy, who was 14 and blind like Ritz, Fang, 14, who was silent kinda like Gage, and Maximum Ride. Max, as she preferred to be called, was 14 and led her own personal flock. They had escaped from the School courtesy of a man named Jeb Batchelder who rescued them and got them out of there. Then we dove into their adventures. Angel had been recaptured, the flock got her out. They fled to New York in search of information on their birth parents, where Max was hit with skull-splitting headaches and received a Voice in her head because of it. Then they flew south to Florida, and found about ITEX, a big bad corporation. They were found and attacked and went north again, where they were attacked. Fang was injured, they spent a few months with this woman named Anne Walker, while he healed. Then she betrayed them. Wait, I'm wrong. Switch those. Fang got hurt, THEN they went to Florida. My bad. Then they ended up back at the School somehow- the books didn't tell us how. From there, information   
At that point, I glanced up and noticed Gage watching me. I averted my gaze and looked at Ritz and Hunter. Both were becoming twitchy from sitting down for so long. I sighed and stood.  
"Come on. Let's take a break." D.G. was the first to his feet. I smirked and led the troops outside.  
We walked out and I became unsure of what to do. So, I led us down the street, looking for someplace to eat. I felt Gage and Hunter turn circles ever so slightly, looking for anybody.  
"Hey!" I immediately froze up and turned towards the voice. A boy with sandy hair jogged towards us. "I take it you're new around here." He was rather tall. He was roughly an inch, maybe two shorter than me. I looked down at him and could barely conceal my double take. All his teeth were slightly pointed and his eyes were rust colored and slit like a cats.  
"What makes you say that?" I asked him.  
"The fact that you seven stand out like sore thumbs. You're all huddled together, there's no talking communication and your friends are circling like paranoid rats. That and the fact that I know almost everyone in this town." He seemed a little cocky, a little conservative, and his mind seemed genuine. "Can I buy you guys lunch?" He smiled. I glanced at the group.  
"Sure. Why not?"


	9. Chapter 9

Gage was more than a little surprised by my answer. But the boy responded well.  
"Okay. Come on. I know a place where we can sit down and talk." We followed him into a nearby diner and we piled into the large round-a-bout booth. We smooshed onto one side and the boy sat relatively across from us.  
"So, where're you guys from?" He signaling a waiter. He came over, and we all ordered relatively large and he didn't blink twice.  
"We're not from around here." I replied cryptically.  
"Well yes. That's obvious. Any could've told me that. But where exactly?"  
"Out West." Annoyance flashed briefly across his face before he smoothed out his features. He wanted to know more about us. He was evaluating me to discover the personality that would best suit me. Not gonna happen, boy.  
"Look, Holden. First things first, don't feed me some crap that your name is Kyle. And quite analyzing me to try and figure out how to get me to trust you. Not gonna happen."  
"So you are a mutant." He sounded genuinely surprised when I flat-lined on him. But his posture relaxed and he leaned back into his seat.  
"You a mind reader?"  
"You're not the hard to read, even without the ability. Your personality keeps changing over and over again." I dead-panned. The Flock didn't move, but then the waiter came over, left the food, some meager helpings of assorted veggies, meat and seasonings, and they all pounced on it without hesitation. Even I did. Holden watched us for about 2 minutes before I sat up and looked at him.  
"So, Holden. What now? Cause your plan just failed utterly because there is no way in hell that I trust you and will trust you any time soon."  
"How 'bout we go to the outskirts of town, I show you my trick, you show me yours?" I glanced at Gage, who met my gaze for all of two seconds before going back to his sandwich and I knew what he thought on the topic. I shrugged.  
"Sure. Why not."


	10. Chapter 10

I doubted Holden was expecting all of them to follow me, but hey, we were a package deal. Besides, all of us had the same ability, with varying side effects. We followed him out and I couldn't help but look around at the utter desolation of it all. This flat ravaged land covered in dust that was mixed with, upon further inspection, ash. The air felt thick, heavy, and Izzy launched into a bout of coughing when Holden sent a small mound of windblown dust into the air. I almost strangled him right then and there as he glanced back at her and smirked. He took one glance at me and me clenched fists and his face fell. _Damn. She really is protective of these kids. Just how am I supposed to gain her trust like this? Maybe I can tell her what happened._

His thoughts continued like such and for some reason, they disgusted me.

"Stop side-tracking and start demonstrating." I snapped, glowering at him. He turned to me, surprised that I had spoken up, and then remembered that there was the possibility that I read minds. That almost made up for him antagonizing Izzy.

Almost.

"We're gettin' there. I promise." There was a certain place he had to be in order to show us what he could do. I gave him points though, he was doing a fine job of keeping his ability from his mind. As he walked, I noticed something that was different. His skin. His skin appeared normal but then it appeared layered. Like each cell was clustered and layered over the other cluster. He finally stopped when we were a good distance from town and then the layering became more and more apparent and my unease grew and grew and grew as his mind became harder and harder to breach.

He stopped and turned to us.

"You want to see?" His voice became thick and shivery. My self-control prevented me from shuddering. His skin, which had appeared normal, was now seeming to be sandy and gray and green. Frills appeared at his neck and he lashed out, jumping towards D.G. and Kayla.

I took one step when Gage was there to send him flying away. Lizard Man scrabbled for purchase and smiled. His eyes were slits now and I was done. I hadn't moved though when Izzy was on top of him, swinging her knee out at his head. He ducked and swing another punch. Faster than my eyes could track, she dodged and ran at him one more time from behind. She made contact and clung to his neck, even as they went rolling. When they came to a stop, his hands, more like talons, were prying at her arms, which were around his neck. She adjusted her grasp and grabbed her wrist and jerked. Holden released a choked sound and tried harder. By now her arm was bleeding and she jerked again. I walked forward and grabbed his shirt collar, readying my fist.

"I'd stop if I were you, Lizard Boy." I hissed and he slowly became the sandy-haired boy who had greeted us as his breath became shallow and Izzy cut off his breath. She gave him more breathing room and he looked at me and laughed.

"Did you really think The School wouldn't find you?" His voice was raspy and my grip tightened at his words.

"You are the mutants that escaped, aren't you?" He laughed at my silence.

"You Plan to tell them. You think they'll give a reward." He laughed harder, confirming my theory. "That won't work." He kept laughing and laughing and his face turned purple. Izzy released him and all of us looked at D.G. and Kayla, who were staring at Holden with fear and angry.

"Die with a smile on your face." Kayla said, her voice low. D.G. mimicked her tone. "Lose your mind before it decays."

I jumped towards them, grabbing their shoulders. "Hey!" They both jumped and looked at me, suddenly appearing tired.

"Guys, it's okay." Kayla looked at me, looking angry and ready to cry.

"He was gonna give us back." She choked and I hugged her, pulling her to my chest.

"No. He's not. I wasn't gonna let him. But you two are too little. I'm not gonna let you murder someone." I pulled back and looked at them, blocking out Holden's laughs that were intermingled with screams. I looked at D.G.. Holden was terrified and he found it hilarious.

"Do you mind shutting him up?" I asked and my question was directed at Gage. He nodded and hit him with a rock.

"Please don't do that again?" I looked at them both.

"I am A: not going to let you two become murderers at your ages and B: I love you both, that was bloody terrifying." D.G. grinned and Kayla grinned too. I clapped their shoulders and nodded.

"Let's fine refuge guys. Let's get out of here."


End file.
